Chapter 523: The Stand Against Oblivion (3)
The game continued. A new Chapter began.
After the Empire’s victory in the first round, the Ultras struck back with a vengeance.
The complete annihilation of their forces at the rear shattered the morale of the imperial troops, who now realized there was no longer a safe place to retreat.
Then, without warning, one imperial unit after another came under assault—attacked by elite Ultras forces.
And that wasn’t all.
The battlefield witnessed, for the first time, the arrival of the Lords of the Nightmare—creatures far beyond the SS- tier.
On the Empire’s right flank, the Abyss Watchers unleashed absolute chaos, slaughtering soldiers in droves.
On the left, they released the mindless Hollow, Pontiff Sulyvahn, accompanied by hundreds of nightmare creatures that attacked with relentless fury, aiming to wipe out the Empire’s forces entirely.
The battlefield plunged into complete disarray. The Empire’s advantage was slowly crumbling. In response, many of their forces began grouping together, uniting to hold the line against this overwhelming threat.
There was no turning back now.
Life-and-death battles erupted daily ..and with each clash, hundreds fell.
Chaos had become the name of this war.
On one side, the bulk of the imperial army was surrounded and suppressed by the Ultras.
On the other side, Prince Aegon and his forces advanced rapidly, burning every city in their path.
The Ultras’ reaction to Aegon’s maneuver came too late, and with the full might of House Valerion supporting him, there was little they could do to stop it.
Losses piled up on both sides, and no one could say for sure who held the upper hand anymore.
This was no longer a war of strategy or intelligence. It had devolved into blind slaughter and utter chaos.
Both sides were now locked in a war of total annihilation.
But none suffered more than the vanguard...
That meant Snow Lionheart and Frey Starlight.
For several days, their squad was forced to fight without rest. Yet unlike other units that regrouped and retreated, they stood strong, holding the frontline.
They had no choice but to face off against dozens of nightmare beasts beyond the SS- tier. Frey and Snow endured immense hardship just to contain the disasters before them.
Both of them led from the front, drenched in blood from head to toe. The number of enemies they’d already slain was uncountable...
And still, more kept coming.
"I just want to know... how the hell did the Ultras manage to control these things?"
Snow growled, gripping Vermithor, whose healing aura continually replenished his strength.
Beside him, Frey decapitated another abomination, wiping blood from his face.
"That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out these past few days," he said. "And I think I finally found a clue."
"Seriously?!" Snow shouted back, cutting through more nightmare creatures as they fought back-to-back.
The battlefield echoed with the sounds of shrieking monsters, grinding limbs, and destruction. The noise was so overwhelming that they had to scream just to hear each other.
In particular, Sansa Valerion had unleashed utter mayhem after flooding the battlefield with her spreading shadow.
Dozens of tendrils of darkness slithered across the ground, each ending in massive mouths that resembled worms ..devouring everything in their path.
Though Sansa had already slain many, Frey’s eyes kept scanning the battlefield... again and again...
"They’re well hidden. Strange markings carved into the skins of all the nightmare creatures. They may look like meaningless runes, but there’s a faint stream of aura flowing through them... so faint, you can’t sense it at all," Frey said as he turned another nightmare beast into shredded remains.
"But they can’t escape my senses. I’m almost certain it’s the witch’s doing."
Frey’s tone was firm, and Snow’s expression darkened.
"Beatrice..."
Somehow, she had managed to bring every single nightmare creature under her control in a shockingly short time.
All of it, through that strange, logic-defying magic of hers.
"To be honest, we’re in terrible shape... We need to deal with them quickly and retreat. They say a monster resembling you showed up at the rear and completely wiped it out," Snow said, referencing the recent report they had received.
The description matched that of V—the masked one they’d clashed with several times before.
But the power he reportedly displayed... it was something else entirely.
A monster capable of mimicking Frey Starlight.
"We’ll deal with him when the time comes. For now, focus on the enemy in front of you."
Frey showed no reaction to the news about V, making it clear that worrying over a fight bound to happen anyway was pointless.
His logic was simple—and effective. This was war. They’d face him sooner or later... and when that moment came, Frey would kill him.
Right now, he prioritized the enemy before him.
"Sir! Another wave of beasts is coming!"
As the two of them fought, a soldier rushed in to report.
"A new wave is incoming—and it’s bigger than the last!"
They were already worn out from the brutal, relentless combat, and now another wave?
The soldiers had reached their limits. Exhaustion had taken its toll. But the battle was far from over.
Another offensive was heading their way—and it was anything but ordinary.
Frey Starlight was the first to sense it, thanks to his enhanced perception.
He felt it clearly... and his expression darkened.
"Prepare yourselves. A disaster is about to descend upon us."
His warning instantly put everyone on edge—Frey’s words carried weight, especially now.
Slowly, Ghost emerged from the shadows, having sensed the same thing.
And then, within seconds... the fog came.
A strange mist crept toward them, forming from nothing ..like someone had tossed a giant smoke bomb over their heads.
The stinging, choking fog sent panic through the ranks.
"Mist stalker?" Ghost asked, sharpening his senses to the limit.
"No... that’s not the Mist stalker." Frey immediately denied it. He knew the Mist Ghoul better than anyone.
"This is a different kind of beast... one far more lethal."
His words did nothing but amplify the fear spreading among the troops. The battlefield had gone eerily quiet. All the creatures around them had vanished into the fog.
The mist was so thick that it completely blocked their vision ..none of them could see more than a few steps ahead. And to make matters worse, it didn’t just rob them of sight... it numbed their senses too.
The situation left the imperial troops with no choice but to gather tightly into a single formation .. backs to each other, weapons drawn.
Next to Frey and Snow, Dawn Polaris arrived with Selina, the witch who had been traveling with them.
"This doesn’t bode well... I can’t expand my domain at all," Selina said, clearly disturbed by the way this magical mist worked.
The tension kept building as silence dragged on...
"Where will they come from?"
Dawn looked around nervously, eyes scanning left and right.
All the soldiers did the same—backs together, covering every direction.
With their senses crippled, there was no way to pinpoint the source of the attack. And that uncertainty only deepened the fear.
Seconds ticked by.
Silence reigned.
Then ..Frey Starlight’s shout pierced the tension like lightning.
"From below!!!"
He yelled the warning and instantly leapt into the air, but it was too late.
Without warning, the ground beneath them ruptured—and from the depths of hell itself, death came roaring upward.
Dozens... no, hundreds of gray, ghastly hands exploded from the abyss, surging toward them like a swarm.
Everyone stood frozen in shock, staring at those elongated hands—each over a hundred meters long.
But it wasn’t the sheer size or destructive force that terrified them.
It was what happened upon contact.
The moment the hands touched someone, a horrific phenomenon occurred—one that drove many to the brink of madness.
Whoever these hands touched... their life was stolen.
Their skin decayed.
Their flesh shriveled.
Only bone remained.
And it all happened in seconds.
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